The Safety of Family
by NinjaDevil2000
Summary: He hasn't told his siblings what happened to him at the hands of the Witch, but when Edmund suffers nightmares, will he finally tell them?


Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Narnia. It all belongs to C. S. Lewis.

Set after the Pevensie siblings return to England, but before Prince Caspian.

Peter woke up to the sounds of his brother sleeping fitfully in the bed next to his own. He sat up, rubbed his bleary eyes, and got out of bed, planning to wake his brother up to remind him they were no longer in Narnia.

It was hard for all of them, and they all grieved in their own ways. Peter had trouble adjusting to the lack of power. More often than not, when he was in town, you could see him in town demanding a shopkeeper or pedestrian to treat him with respect, tell him the truth, or act properly. After a few police reports, Peter had been told, not harshly, but sternly by Edmund, the judge, that he was no longer allowed to go into town alone.

Susan seemed to forget about Narnia, obsessing herself with makeup, boys, and parties. Her brothers and sister were confused by this behavior, and began to be resentful, wondering if she really had forgotten Narnia. Although, were she to stop hiding away from her feelings, and open up to her siblings, they would be surprised at how much she remembered and missed Narnia.

Lucy had an especially hard time. Having been the youngest, at only 9 years old when they entered Narnia, she had to learn how to grow up again. Peter and Susan, having been 16 and 15, were fairly grown up already and had slightly less trouble adjusting to their old ages.

Edmund's situation, however, was completely different to those of his siblings. He was 13 again, and was sweet, kind, compassionate, and kingly, but his emotions were buried deep. He had been an insufferable beast, when they had entered Narnia, but now, he was merely an emotionless, yet kind creature. The only times you could visibly see the signs of their being emotions were when he was having nightmares, as he was at the moment.

Edmund was now talking quite loudly in his sleep, sounding as if he were in pain, and Peter was afraid he would awaken their parents across the hall. He walked over to him, reached out an arm and gently shook him, which failed. Peter now roughly shook him again.

"Edmund! Ed! Wake up! It's just a dream!" Still nothing. After begging for five minutes for Edmund to wake up, Peter was now almost yelling.

"Edmund!"

Susan and Lucy, having heard Peter from their room, came barreling in. All had learned to sleep lightly, having dealt with pirates, kidnappers, and expert swordsmen in Narnia. At last, Edmund woke up with a start, just as their parents came rushing in as well.

Their mother immediately began to approach the bed, but before she could reach her youngest son, he grabbed a dagger from under his pillow and held it threateningly. Peter, having dealt with this occurrence multiple times, merely sat on the bed next to Edmund, calmly took the dagger out of his hand, and took Edmund's face in his hands.

"Edmund! Come back to me, my king!" This seemed to startle Edmund out of his stupor, and he looked around. His sisters, who were also sitting on the bed around him, were smiling sadly, glad that they were able to awaken their brother. Peter sat with an arm around his brother, and, as though all four were all of one mind, turned around simultaneously to look at their parents. Helen and Henry looked at all of their children, wondering what all this was about. Something in all of their faces told them that they were not welcome, although the children were too polite to say it out loud. Henry could see this more than Helen, and tugged slightly on her arm, motioning for them to return to their own room. Helen seemed to want to stay, but was led away by her husband. As soon as her parents left and closed the door, Susan turned to Edmund.

"Ed, what happened? We couldn't wake you up for the longest time."

"I'm not sure." Ed said, speaking for the first time.

"Was it –– was it Beruna?" Peter asked. Susan and Lucy gasped and Edmund paled.

"Yes, but not all of it," Edmund replied.

"What do you mean? Was it something else too?" Lucy asked. At this, Edmund pulled his knees up to his chest, and began to shake slightly, causing Peter, Susan, and Lucy to close in around him. Edmund was feeling slightly sick, because he had never said what he was about to tell his siblings, to anybody.

"It was when I was her prisoner. At her castle. It was so cold and she hurt me so much." Edmund was now crying and his siblings were slightly confused. Edmund had never told them what happened when he was her captive. They all feared the worst, but after a few weeks of asking him to talk, they had decided to let him come to them in his own time.

"She tortured me," he whispered. He held out his hand for his siblings to see and pointed at his wrists. There, they could see faint circlets around his wrists. Scars.

"Edmund," Peter asked warily, "what are those? Where did they come from?"

"Her. She kept my bonds so tight, they bled and I couldn't feel my hands anymore. But that's not even the worst of it." At this statement, he reached his arm around to his back, and began tracing the number of scars there, as he had so often done.

"Ed," Lucy began skeptically, "what did she do to you? Did she . . .?" She was afraid to even ask, terrified of what he might say.

Edmund took a deep, shuddering breath, then proceeded to tell them the entire story of being her captive, believing he might feel better if he discussed it.

"She interrogated me, about where you all were. I told her everything I had heard from the beavers, but it didn't satisfy her. She threw me in the dungeon . . . next to Mr. Tumnus."

At this, Lucy gasped and her eyes filled with tears, remembering her long-time best friend, and what he had undergone because of her.

"She didn't feed me and she only gave me water once a day. And every day, she would come in and hit me or whip me or slap me. Whatever satisfied her craving for vengeance. It was so cold, and where my shirt had been cut open, my blood froze to my skin. I couldn't feel my finger and toes, and it was only when we started our journey to the Stone Table, that my wounds started to heal and I was able to walk. When the creatures rescued me, I was so delirious that I couldn't even register what was happening. I was so scared when I met Aslan, because I didn't know anything about him, and I remember begging him not to hurt me even more. Then," Edmund took a deep, shaky breath, "he breathed on me, and - and everything was healed, but I still have the scars, and to be honest, I'm glad I do because it reminds me of how good Aslan really is, and how he forgave me."

After this emotional confession, all the children had tears in their eyes, and they all proceeded to snuggle deep into the covers, with Edmund, who was now breathing more deeply. After a few minutes, they were all asleep together, thinking about the warmth of Aslan, and thanking him for saving their brother.


End file.
